His nickname comes from early childhood, when his sister called him "Mano", that's a popular slang term meaning "brother" in Portuguese.

Biography

He began his career in football as a defender for Guarani de Venâncio Aires in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He gave up playing to become a physical education professional, beginning in 1986 in SESI, Rio Grande do Sul, before going on to Guarani de Venâncio Aires, Juventude and Internacional (as well as a spell in 1997 with Paulo Autuori at Cruzeiro).